Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A year ago today...

"It's been a year now since I was attacked on the streets of Bushwick by a group of more than a dozen teens," writes Emanuel Xavier, "Today, I only have a scar left on the back of my head, the inability to tear out of my right eye and the hearing loss in my right ear which requires a hearing aide I am resistant to get. Otherwise, most people forget with the flash of a smile I am happy to still have thanks to the doctors."

The police never caught the assailants and Xavier says that the memory of their faces has blurred with time and, even though this was not a hate crime, Xavier aks us to remember the "battles that we must still fight in our own city."

"It was only months later that Kevin Aviance was attacked in the East Village and just recently that Michael Sandy was killed. Let's not forget Sakia Gunn and Eddie Garzon and Rashawn Brazell and so many others of our brothers and sisters lost to hate and violence on our very own streets or struggling to survive like Dwan Prince. This is not to mention the many others that were simply not covered by the mass media. Stay safe and remember there is still a place in the world for love and peace."

A new poem, "Writer's Block" over on his MySpace blog (click here).PHOTO CREDIT: Shane Luitjens